Herpes test

[francescalanie]

On May 1 i was tested for every std. I never got a call back from my doctor about the results, so I called in office may 23 to see if my results every came in. They said yes everything was clear, except i was exposed to the cold sore virus (HSV-1) which i already knew this because I had them as a child. So i was relieved. I never had any symptoms, just wanted to be tested as I have only been with 3 people and have tested between them. I did not know that herpes wasn't included in the normal line up until I switched doctors. A week later on June 1, i got an email from my doctor that she looked at the results and i have HSV 1 & 2. That if I haven't had symptoms i may never have them. I haven't ever had symptoms of the genitals, so i was worried. I had a boyfriend- he's tested clean, he's military so they test them frequently. My doctor played it off like it was nothing. Didn't talk to me more about it, give me advice, ask about medicines to take nothing. Said if i had an outbreak call her and she'll give me medicine until then don't worry about it. But of course i worry, i don't want to give this to anyone else??? So i do my research, heard a lot about false positives, so i was thinking if my past partners have come up clean in it, how do I have it? How did i get it? I went and got my results to see my IGg levels.

HSV-1 13.30
HSV-2 1.71

I read that anywhere above 3.5 is a definite positive, but under could be a false positive or low positive. Ive also seen as where the HSV-1 can throw off the HSV-2 making that one positive?
Im not sure what to do, or what to do next as my doctor isn't really helping me with this. Any advice?


also, it says my iGM for both s <1.10 titer, what does that mean?

[francescalanie]

Thank you so much. I&#39;ve been so worried about it. It&#39;s been a few weeks so I will retest and see what if says. Then go from there

[feelingundone]

Good plan. Please keep me posted

[francescalanie]

Tested positive again with a value of 1.52 it's been 6 weeks since I was last tested and it goes down, I'm so confused.

[feelingundone]

It's one of two posibilities. It's either picking up some odd protiens or you are positive. I'm pretty confident it's the first. Think of the value as a confidence number. Your numbers mean the test saw something but it's not confident in what it saw.
You need to seek out the western blot test.

[francescalanie]

I told my doctor I wanted the western blot and said that it was only for hiv so that wasn't an option for me. That we could wait and repeat labs again but that's my only option

[feelingundone]

Your Dr is incorrect. The university of Washington does the test. You may have to contact the west overheights clinic for help as your Dr doesn't know about the test.

[francescalanie]

I went to my primary doctor to ask about the results and he said that since my igm shows the virus has been there a while and that if I haven't had an outbreak then basically it is a false positive. Said not to worry about it that they happen frequently with hsv 1 positive people. That it was a low positive number. Told me to ease my mind. What do you think?

[feelingundone]

Igm is useless so don't even think about those results. Your igg low positive for hsv2 has a very high chance of being a false positive. I would bet the farm on it. Your Dr didn't help you out most likely due to not knowing much about hsv or the testing. The fact they ordered you an igm confirms this. Here's my advice, wait a few weeks and retest with an igg hsv2 test. If it is negative then move on. If it comes back with a low false positive again then seek out tbe western blot test from the university of Washington. The west overheights clinic in portland can help you set everything up. I hope this helps and do not worry to much as these low false positives are common. Hsv2 tests are very sensitive and cross over from hsv1 antibodies is common. The test will also pop positive if it sees odd protiens of similar weight.